Some you expect to be easy and they are not, others you expect to be difficult and they are not. Good bunch of solvers:
1 benchen71
2 Berto
3 Mike D
4 Cindy Heisler
5 I K Snamhcok
6 InAJelly
7 boharr
8 Pair O Ducks
9 LarsCaine
10 Hector
11 Meg
12 Mg305
13 MatthewL
14 rjy
15 Serafin
16 hoover
17 DCBilly
18 Mwoychick
19 markhr
20 JHSeeman
21 Bird Lives
22 Darth
23 DIS
24 CPJohnson
25 Jaclyn
26 ELSavage
27 andeux
28 KayW
29 Kristi
30 woozy
and a lot of nice comments so I am declaring this a success!
That is more than I can say about my luck with the MOAT which I apparently have a mental block about, even though I knew all the nudges before they were given...just goes that way sometimes.
T
MEOW #222 What Am I Missing?
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DrTom
- Posts: 4906
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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whimsy
- Posts: 3745
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
- Location: Hopkinton MA
Downright nifty -- Thanks, Tom!
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DrTom
- Posts: 4906
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Good information, happy you found it fun!whimsy wrote: Wed Feb 26, 2025 11:38 pm zzbb.png
I have this bag. It does not have a cat in it.
Downright nifty -- Thanks, Tom!
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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lbray53
- Posts: 1508
- Joined: Fri May 08, 2020 8:34 am
- Location: Elkhorn, WI
Cat out of sack!
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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Ergcat
- Posts: 919
- Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2020 8:12 pm
- Location: Seneca SC
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ajk
- Posts: 1721
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
Got it with a hint. Impressive construction. 
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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HeadinHome
- Posts: 1459
- Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:06 am
- Location: Charlotte, NC
I either have a foothold or the most incredible coincidences of red herrings ever… nudge help anyone?
Update: got help. Way out in the field on that red herring or rabbit hole or whatever you want ot call this very fruitful but ultimately dead end trail. Great puzzle… this type often bites me.
Update: got help. Way out in the field on that red herring or rabbit hole or whatever you want ot call this very fruitful but ultimately dead end trail. Great puzzle… this type often bites me.
Last edited by HeadinHome on Fri Feb 28, 2025 1:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
The other Wendy. 
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DrTom
- Posts: 4906
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Six more people answered the question and are missing nothing:
31 whimsy
32 lbray53
33 Mr Tex
34 Ergcat
35 ajk
36 HoldThatThought
31 whimsy
32 lbray53
33 Mr Tex
34 Ergcat
35 ajk
36 HoldThatThought
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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DrTom
- Posts: 4906
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
OK, lets see if we can jumpstart this, might as well because I'm stumbling on the WSJ.
NUDGES:
NUDGES:
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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DrTom
- Posts: 4906
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Nine more, and some who are not Muggles. I am glad that others are finding our little (well not so little anymore) group.
37 HeadinHome
38 Lance
39 lbray53
40 Carolyn
41 JM
42 FedexPope
43 LB800
44 Dave C
45 Winterflame
I was actually hoping to get into the 70's with this one, doesn't look like that is in the cards. But, hey, I'm delighted there are almost 50 of you.
37 HeadinHome
38 Lance
39 lbray53
40 Carolyn
41 JM
42 FedexPope
43 LB800
44 Dave C
45 Winterflame
I was actually hoping to get into the 70's with this one, doesn't look like that is in the cards. But, hey, I'm delighted there are almost 50 of you.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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DrTom
- Posts: 4906
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Ok, probably the last solver:
46 Tom WIlson
Really no more nudges to give out so It's the reveal tomorrow (no use prolonging the agony, very few solvers after Saturday.)
46 Tom WIlson
Really no more nudges to give out so It's the reveal tomorrow (no use prolonging the agony, very few solvers after Saturday.)
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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DrTom
- Posts: 4906
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Well, that was interesting…
I had a lot of fun making this puzzle which really did come about as a result of a discussion I had with Al Sisti. I had seen a reference to this “lipogram” (what a piece written to purposefully exclude a letter or letters is called) but thought it would be impossible. Initially I thought, “I’ll just do the grid”, but that seemed kind of wimpy so I went for all of it. It is why there are so many words in the grid (90, with a usual number being 72-28) since many longer words end up past tense and I could not risk any “ed” endings
The grid fill was not NEARLY as difficult as the clues. I’d have the perfect clue and then see that it of course contained an E. For example the MIAOW was going to be “Nice sound from a cat” but of course could not be.
I got many other 1939 books. One in particular, “And Then There Were None”, was popular and I tried to contact the people who submitted that if I had an address because with that title they might have been on the right track. But, I did not accept it as an answer because I did not spend all that time ridding the puzzle of E’s to have it NOT be GADSBY.
Interestingly there IS another book written without E’s, “ A Void”, translated from the original French La Disparition (lit. "The Disappearance"), is a 300-page French lipogrammatic novel, written in 1969 by Georges Perec, entirely without using the letter e. It obviously had to be renamed or the project failed immediately. However, as noted, it was published in 1969, not 1939.
I want to thank the 46 solvers and say:
GRAT FFORT!
I had a lot of fun making this puzzle which really did come about as a result of a discussion I had with Al Sisti. I had seen a reference to this “lipogram” (what a piece written to purposefully exclude a letter or letters is called) but thought it would be impossible. Initially I thought, “I’ll just do the grid”, but that seemed kind of wimpy so I went for all of it. It is why there are so many words in the grid (90, with a usual number being 72-28) since many longer words end up past tense and I could not risk any “ed” endings
The grid fill was not NEARLY as difficult as the clues. I’d have the perfect clue and then see that it of course contained an E. For example the MIAOW was going to be “Nice sound from a cat” but of course could not be.
I got many other 1939 books. One in particular, “And Then There Were None”, was popular and I tried to contact the people who submitted that if I had an address because with that title they might have been on the right track. But, I did not accept it as an answer because I did not spend all that time ridding the puzzle of E’s to have it NOT be GADSBY.
Interestingly there IS another book written without E’s, “ A Void”, translated from the original French La Disparition (lit. "The Disappearance"), is a 300-page French lipogrammatic novel, written in 1969 by Georges Perec, entirely without using the letter e. It obviously had to be renamed or the project failed immediately. However, as noted, it was published in 1969, not 1939.
I want to thank the 46 solvers and say:
GRAT FFORT!
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.